A Florida man filed a lawsuit claiming his wife’s death was the result of a brain tumor caused by her mobile phone. Although investigations indicate the telephones are harmless, certain groups are not convinced. Are mobile phones safe? Why or why not? What, if any, precautions should users take? Do you feel that people could become “Addicted” to their technology, such as having to check their phones constantly, feeling like part of themselves is missing if they do not have access to their phone?

Make sure to be detailed in your response and make sure to comment on at least two other student’s posts.

CLASSMATE POST #1

I believe our mobile phone is a part of some health issues that could potentially lead up to causes of certain cancers, and tumors. It, of course, has to take so many years of constant contact with the phone. I’ve learned over the years our phones have radiation. I also think that if there was ever a radiation catastrophe, we could also be very immune to it. As far as safety in concerned some phones have been known to blow up from heat. Precautions to consider would be keep your phones out of extreme heat conditions, don’t leave your charger plugged in and laying on the floor potential fires are possible from electrical currents through a charger cord, also limit the amount of time you spend on your phone, could cause neck, hand, and eye injuries. I can only guarantee these dangers from personal experience. Yes, I believe technologies such as our phones, computers, and tablets can be an addiction and habit forming more so much that we think our phone is going off when in fact it is not. It could be a habit just to have it in your hands. There is so much we can do on a phone now and days that it’s become a lifeline to some of us. We tend to panic if we lose, or break our phones, or someone takes it. I also know people who have lost it and bought a new one the same day because they could not be without it. It was crazy. I do think a lot of things are possible through medical induced injuries due to a mobile phone.

CLASSMATE POST #2

The debate of “Are mobile phone safe,” has been debated since their debut. As with any nascent technology, people spread myths and rumors before ascertaining the facts. According to the FDA’s website, “30 years of scientific evidence has not linked exposure to radio frequency energy from use of cell phones to health problems, such as cancer” (FDA). The only biological effects from using mobile phones is tissue heating. Even before mobile phones existed, humans have absorbed radiation from space, plus radiation from decaying radioactive matter in the Earth’s crust. Our bodies are designed to adapt to a myriad of differing environmental sources that cause biological damage. Hence, why human beings have biological mechanism in place to repair our cellular machinery, even from radiation. The only precautions one can take is not using a mobile device, but since the radio waves are surrounding us all the time it does not matter much whether it’s on your person, or just going about your daily business.

Technology is definitely quite addicting, in fact it is engineered that way. As with drugs, alcohols, gambling, or any other “addictive” behaviors, technology addiction is just another to add onto the global lists of addictions. As with all addictions, they cause various psychological and social consequences that can be damaging for the person and eventually friends and family. The most popular mobile applications are designed to be addictive to maximize their monetary values, especially since the majority are owned by publicly traded corporations. Their end goal is to have eyeballs glued to those screens for as many minutes a day as possible. Thus, people unconsciously have to check their phone constantly and even develop “phantom” vibrations they can “feel” from the phone due to a new notification. In essence, their mobile phone becomes a part of their “digital identity,” and thus must be constantly monitored and curated to project the self-defined image of self at all times.

All this addiction to technology can lead into technology overload, essentially as it is titled, when technology’s constant demand for our attention causes people to burnout and feel overwhelmed. It can also lead to digital anxiety, creating long-term, negative feelings around the personal use of social media and thus can add to feelings of depression. We have not evolved to be able to consume the vast amount of information that digital devices can expose us to, and thus causes an information overload. Plus, as mentioned above, “technology traps,” such as the popular mobile apps like Facebook, eventually create stress in people that breaks them. Unfortunately, as with any addiction, it takes great effort and energy to relieve that addiction, and becomes a daily battle to ensure those demons do not come back and take over a person’s life.